KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan official says a Taliban attack on several police checkpoints in the country's northeast has killed six officers.

Gen. Fazeluddin Ayar, the police chief in Badakhshan province, said Wednesday that a large group of Taliban fighters attacked in Yamgan district.

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He says the fighting started late Tuesday and is still going on. The police have sent reinforcement to the site. Ayar says that along with the six officers, five insurgents have also been killed in the gunbattle.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack. Their statement to media says that they have raised their white flag above the Yamgan district headquarters.

Ayar says the police were forced to pull back tactically from the area and were now fighting the Taliban forces in the mountains around the district.